Apologies in advance if any bad language sneaks in here - I'll try to keep it clean.

So I was on the 007 bus at about 4:50pm today (coming back from the Shore). The bus stopped at the busy stopjust before the bridge to leave downtown. The bus driver had the ramp down to let a wheelchair off - some guy tripped over the ramp and there was a big keffufle cause he was moaning a fair bit - while this is happening I see my bike on the rack vibrating a bit (I as a bit confused, but couldn't see anyone going at my bike so assumed somebody was trying to put their own bike on.

Finally the guy who fell gets up - and the first thing he does is run over to his mate up the front of the bus - lift my bike off - and ride off on it. The bus driver sreams "hey thats not yours" and Im up running camelback on, full face in hand in a second.

Fortunately my bike was in its biggest gear (I had about 2:30 mins to get from Old Buck Carpark to the main road there to get the bus) so this guy wasn't accelerating to well. I caught him inside 50m and grabbed the loop on the back of his backpack and hauled left. I managed to steer the bike into a parked car. He jumped off kept one hand on the bike and one fist in the air. I had one hand on the bike and one open hand up guarding my face (in case he took a swing at me).

I'm 6"1 and 185lbs but the first to admit I'd be as useful as tits in a gay bar in a fight situation - so I start hollering "HELP!" at the top of my voice. Eventually this big guy starts jogging over and the arsehole bike theif goes "fine keep your stupid bike" and wanders off.

So I wheel the bike back to the bus and the guy starts talking to me, I couldn't hear him - eventually I figured out my ipod had been in the whole time. A nice old lady offered me a jam tart. A few people congratulated me on getting my bike back. THe big guy asked me why I hadn't yanked the fucker to the ground when I got his backpack- I figured that would lead to a punch up and since this guy had his mate with him I realised a bike wasn't worth getting beat up over.

Bus driver reckons at least 3 cameras caught the whole thing - I asked if transit would give them to me to upload them on youtube for everyones amusement - she didn't think so.

Needless to say, I spent the rest of the trip standing up the front of the bus next to the driver watching over my bike.

I go back to Australia in 8 days, it wouldve been a shitty conclusion to my year.

I once heard a story about a bike getting nabbed off the front of a bus - I didn't think it would happen to me - remember to be up the front of the bus when using the bike rack folks.

You're 6'1 and you didn't want to deck the guy? Please! I'm friggin 5'7 and you better believe I would at least get a shot in before I got my ass kicked simply for the principle of the whole thing. Good job on keeping your bike though!!

Nice (unintentional) move putting the bike in the hardest gear. Always a good move if you have to leave your bike unattended--either that are jamming the shifter to a harder gear while leaving the chain in place.

I wish old ladies would offer me jam tarts. Damn, that sounds so civilized.

Surprised that you didn't swing at his head with the full-face, if not repeated bludgeoning.

__________________"The song of a bird...We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds..."-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem

"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk

I most likely would have swung at him with my helmut once I had a grasp on his pack. Hopefully would have been lights out. that being said good work on getting your bike back. Nobody tried to grab the thief and wait for the cops after he let the bike go?